Pork Chop with Chillies

Ingredient A:

Four pork chops, preferably with some fat. Wash and pat dry.

Ingredients B:
1. Lemon zest from half a lemon
2. Two tablespoons light soya sauce
3. One teaspoon honey
4. One teaspoon chilli flakes (or more depending on taste)
5. One teaspoon rice wine vinegar
6. One teaspoon corn flour or potato flour
7. One tablespoon garlic oil
8. One teaspoon garlic powder

Method:
1. Marinate pork chops with Ingredients 'B' overnight.
2. Bring pork chops to room temperature before cooking.
3. Heat a pan and when it is hot, add a tablespoon of oil, twirl oil around pan, lower heat to medium.
4. Spread pork chops out in the pan, cook for about a minute. Flip over and cook for about another minute or so depending on thickness of the cut.
5. Remove pan from stove and let pork chops rest for about two minutes before serving hot.

Note: Pork chops are cooked in medium heat due to chillies used in the marinate. If using high heat, it will burn the chops. Increase cooking time for thicker chops.

Grill if preferred

Pork Porridge

There are times when porridge will do the trick to whet the appetite or when one is feeling poorly. It's not easy to cook rice for one and I tend to cook extra to freeze for later.
There are many ways to cook congee (porridge) and my taste differs depending on the weather. At times I like it smooth and on occasion with a bit of texture.
This is my basic recipe for porridge. Substitute chicken for pork if preferred.
Ingredients:
1. Four pieces pork chops or any lean pork of your choice. Wash, pat dry, remove fat and slice pork into thin strips. Do not discard the bones. Add two tablespoons of salt to pork mixture including the pork bones. Mix well and leave it to marinate overnight in the fridge.
2. Two bowls of cooked rice or a bowl of raw broken rice
3. Thumb of ginger lightly bruised.
4. Salt to marinate and to taste

Method:
1. Leave marinated pork at room temperature before cooking. Blanch with hot water. Rinse pork well.
2. In a pot, large enough to cook the porridge, bring water to a boil (water level about four inches above ingredients). Add rice, pork and a pinch of salt. Bring back to the boil.
3. Lower temperature, lid on, simmer till pork is slightly tender and rice grains have broken up.
4. Add bruised ginger and more water if necessary and continue to simmer till desired consistency is reached.
5. Stir and scrape bottom of pot occasionally to prevent burning.
6. Serve hot with ingredients of your choice.

Belly Pork with Garlic

It's the underside of the pig and is easily available in Spain.
It's immensely popular with the Chinese community as it's a cheap cut but huge in flavour.
Choose slab or slices with extra lean meat; ¾ lean to fats but with skin on for this dish.
The skin is important to hold the pieces together.

This dish could be more complicated with the addition of cinnamon, star anise, cloves, dried mushrooms and chestnuts etc but I wanted to keep it simple as it would be easier for friends who are unaccustomed to foreign flavours. It's pointless to go out to buy certain ingredients and be left in the larder for ages.

The recipe may look long winded but it's worth the effort.
Improvise as you see fit. The main thing is to enjoy experimentation.

Ingredients:
1. Four tablespoons of peanut or vegetable oil
2. Two additional tablespoons peanut/vegetable oil to fry the spices.
3. Two kilos of belly pork rashers washed and patted dry. Slice into bite size pieces.
4. Nine or more cloves of garlic, skinned but left whole
5. Five shallots or one red onion, sliced roughly.
6. Three tablespoons of fresh minced ginger
7. Two cups chicken stock or water
8. Stalk of spring onion/coriander for the sauce, light part bruised and tied into a knot
9. Extra stalk of spring onion/coriander for garnishing
10. Two tablespoons of five-spice powder
11. Pinch of salt
12. One tablespoon caramelised black soya sauce for colouring (optional)
13. Two tablespoons of Shaoxing wine/dry sherry
14. One tablespoon water and half teaspoon of corn flour/potato flour
15. Few drops of sesame oil to finish off the dish

Marinate pork slices with following for at least an hour but best overnight:
1. Four tablespoons of mushroom or black soya sauce
2. Two tablespoons of light soya sauce
3. Dash of white pepper
4. One tablespoon of castor sugar
5. Two tablespoons of sesame oil
6. Mix well together and place in a plastic bag and keep refrigerated. Turn bag around periodically for even seasoning.

Method:
1. Bring marinated belly pork to room temperature.
2. Heat up wok/pot on high heat. When wok/pot is hot, add four tablespoons of oil and twirl oil around pot, add garlic cloves, and stir around till garlic cloves are browned. Remove and set aside.
3. In the same wok/pot, increase heat and when oil is smoking, add belly pork. Do not stir for a few seconds, giving the pork a chance to brown slightly. Flip pork over and stir on high heat for about three minutes.
4. Add chicken stock/water and stalk of spring onion/coriander, mix well with the pork. Bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes or till just slightly tender. Stir mixture occasionally.
5. Heat up a separate pan with two tablespoons of oil, when oil is hot, lower to medium heat, add minced ginger, shallots/onion and pre-fried garlic pieces. Fry gently for about a minute till aromatic.
6. Lower heat further, add five-spice powder and mix ingredients gently for about a minute. The smell will permeate the whole house. Increase heat to high, splash Shaoxing wine/dry sherry in pan, stir well and spoon half a ladle of sauce from the pot of simmering pork. Add salt, mix well and pour mixture back into the pot of simmering pork
7. Continue cooking pork till pork pieces are tender according to taste.
8. Add caramelised black soya sauce and corn flour mixture. Stir well.
9. Before serving, add extra sesame oil and garnish with spring onion slices.
10. This dish tastes better overnight and freezes very well.

Note: Do not throw away the sauce. It freezes very well. Use the package of saved sauce for a different batch or in any other braising meat dishes.

Roast Pork

Seasoning with szechuan peppercorn, 5-spiced powder and salt without scoring.


................





A whole slab of belly pork is not easily available where I live so the temptation to buy one was irresistible when a friend offered to take me to the only place that sells them but for which you have to be a member.

The idea of boiling the pork first is from Ah Pui of Makansutra.

Ingredients:
1. Slab of Belly Pork (choose one with good combinations of lean and fat)
2. Good quality salt (amount depending on size of pork)

Method:
1. Blanch belly pork in boiling water.
2. Bring a pot of cold water to a boil, add pork, ensuring it is immersed completely in water. You may need a plate to hold the pork down in the pot.
3. Boil for between fifteen and 20 minutes (depending on size of pork)
4. Remove pork carefully onto a flat surface.
5. Stab skin with a fork. Literally on every part of the skin. Do not be afraid of overdoing it. Just do it. This is very important as it helps the skin to blister without the need for over salting it.
6. Rub good quality salt on the skin and on all sides.
7. Score skin for easy slicing (optional)
8. Rest pork on a flat rack for a minimum of an hour at room temperature.
9. Pre-heat oven to very hot and roast, skin side up, on centre rack of the oven for between 30 and 45 minutes.
10. Check pork after about 30 minutes as you may need to adjust the temperature. Rotate the pork if necessary for even blistering and golden browning.
11. Rest pork for about ten minutes before slicing.

Note:
1. Ah Pui's version of boiling the pork first makes it extremely easy and therapeutic when it comes to stabbing the skin.
2. If you have done a good job in stabbing the skin with a fork, not much salt is required.
3. Sometimes I rub a mixture of 5-spice powder and freshly ground white pepper on all areas of the pork EXCEPT the skin.
4. You can actually hear the beautiful crackling sound emitting from the oven

Pai Kut with Rice (Soft Bones) Without Ginger

Having this for my lunch and dinner today.

Pai Kut with Rice (Soft Bones)

With ginger